Postwar Naval Tactics
After the Great War of 2077, many pre-war naval vessels were destroyed in the nuclear exchange, and those that survive often have only a partial suite of weapons remaining operational. During the lawless period after the war, piracy became commonplace around the world. To counter this, it became commonplace for weapons such as heavy machine guns to be mounted on civilian vessels such as cargo ships, ferries, and fishing trawlers, and surviving and emerging states began to amass fleets of improvised warship, essentially converted civilian vessels equipped with various weapons and improvised armor- essentially steel plates bolted or welded to the hull and superstructure, and attempted to refurbish any pre-war warships that might be available. As fleets of the time consisted mainly of improvised ships, naval tactics changed radically, with previously outdated tactics such as broadside gunfire engagements, boarding, and even ramming returning to favor. In general, the tactics used were dictated by the types of vessels available to a faction. Light Boat Tactics While no uniform classification of ships exists within post-war nation, "light" vessels tend to range from a small motorboat capable of holding only a few men, often referred to as "ultra-light" vessels, to larger converted tugboats and fishing trawlers with a crew of 10-20 in most cases. Ultra-light vessels are mostly armed only with a forward machine gun, though a handheld rocket launchers are often kept on board for engaging larger vessels. "Ultra-light" boats include light motorboats, speedboats, and inflatable craft, and are mostly used either for very short-range patrols within harbors or along rivers, or as boarding craft launched from a larger ship. "Ultra-light" vessels are also sometimes used as landing craft if pre-war landing boats are not available. "Light" vessels, converted from fishing trawlers or tugboats are often used a either as patrol boats or gunboats. While no uniform classification exists, vessels considered "patrol boats" are generally armed with a main armament intended primarily for direct fire, capable of disabling, if not sinking, a larger vessel, such as a recoilless rifle, light artillery piece (such as 75mm pack howitzer), or heavy autocannon such as a 40mm Bofors. Gunboats are generally vessels with weapons designed for indirect fire, including mortars of various calibers, howitzers, and multiple-launch rocket batteries. These vessels are generally intended to bombard shore targets, though their weapons, particularly howitzers, which are capable of direct fire for close-range engagements, can obviously cause severe damage to even large ships. Both patrol boats and gunboats are also armed with 2-4 machine guns, Gatling lasers, light autocannons (such as the 20mm Oerliken) and/or light rocket or missile launchers for use against vessels of their own size and smaller. In general, light and ultra-light vessels are deployed in one of two ways depending on their targets. Against rival light vessels, engagements would occur at distance at less than 1000 meters using artillery, machine gun, energy weapons, and rocket fire to cause enough damage to either sink an enemy vessel or disable it and allow for boarding operations. For this reason, engagements between flotillas of light boats, often became brutal close-in fights, sometimes at as little as 100 meters or less, with crews sometimes engaging each other with small arms in addition to mounted weapons. Against larger vessels, light patrol boats or gunboats would often engage with their artillery at ranges of up to 2-3 kilometers (beyond that distance, it was difficult to hit a moving ship with guns not designed for that task), while maintaining a distance of 1000 meters or so to keep well out of the effective range of machine gun fire, while making evasive maneuvers to make them difficult targets for heavier artillery. From this distance, a group of patrol and/or gunboats would pepper the target with shells from their main armaments, typically ranging from 75-120mm in caliber. These weapons had the firepower to sink a large ship with sustained fire, however, patrol boat groups and, in particular, pirates, would often attempt to disable the crew, engines, and/or armaments of the vessel, allowing it to be boarded. Boarding operations could be conducted using the patrol boats themselves, but were more often conducted using larger numbers of ultra-light craft launched from a larger ship. Heavy Ship and Fleet Tactics Most large armed ships in the post-war period were converted containers ships, tankers, ferries, icebreakers, and similar vessels, rather than purpose-built pre-war warships, which were a distinct minority. These ships were often heavily armed, with anywhere from four to over ten heavy artillery guns, ranging anywhere from 75mm to the heaviest guns available, often 203mm or 240mm, but in rare cases, heavier guns may be used. These weapons may be either former land-based howitzers or tank guns or scavenged naval guns, and may be used for engaging sea or land targets. Heavy energy weapons, as well as indirect fire weapons such as mortars or multiple launch rocket systems are also sometimes carried. Secondary armament consists of numerous, typically at least ten, machine guns, Gatling lasers, autocannons, rocket launchers, and other weapons for defense against incoming light and ultra-light craft. One or more heavy ships are often used the centerpiece a fleet of numerous smaller patrol boats and gunboats, with the heavy ship carrying fuel, and supplies for the smaller vessels, as well numerous small "ultra-light" boarding or landing craft. In ship vs ship combat, the screening patrol vessels will be deployed to attack enemy vessels, as well as defend against attacks by enemy patrol boats. Meanwhile, the larger ships will attempt to engage enemy fleet in long range artillery engagements with their main guns, and sometime mortars and MLRS as well. An initial salvo of shells is fired based on the estimated range, and corrections are made accordingly. As there is no central fire control system of on improvised warships, each gun is set manually by the crew, either using individually, or, more often, gunners will be ordered to set all guns of a given caliber to a particular angle and, if possible, use a given propellant charge. These broadside engagements take place at variable ranges, but given the lack of advanced fire control on most improvised warships, often take place at no more than 5 kilometers. At longer ranges, commanders will typically aim for an entire enemy fleet- even if one of the heavy vessels is not hit, even a near miss can destroy or disable a screening patrol boat, can multiple light vessels can be taken out with a single heavy shell if they are in close formation. At closer ranges, individual heavy vessels may be targeted. While relatively rare, ramming attacks are not unheard of, and are almost always used by a larger vessel against a significantly smaller one, such as a converted container ship against an armed fishing trawler. Icebreakers, when they are available are particularly prized as improvised warships for their increased effectiveness in ramming attacks, as well as their overall sturdy construction. One example of such a ship conducting a ramming attack is the Cascadian armed icebreaker CS Hecate Strait, which rammed and sunk a pirate armed trawler during the Salish Sea Anti-Piracy Campaign. Pre-War Warships Pre-war warships are rare, and ones still working order even rarer. For this reason, they are almost always in the hands of larger post-war countries such as the New California Republic or Cascadia, and even then, it is rare for more than five frigates or destroyers to be operational. Most surviving pre-war warships that remain operations are surface combatants, including missile boats, corvettes, avisos, frigates, and destroyers. These vessels are armed with a wide array of powerful weapons, including guns, energy weapons, missiles, and torpedoes, all with integrated fire control systems and designed to be fired at a moving ship from a moving platform. This accuracy gives conventional naval guns on pre-war warships an effective range against naval targets of 8 kilometers or greater, while Gauss or energy weapons may have longer ranges. The longest-range, but rarest and most valuable weapons are pre-war anti-ship missiles, which may have ranges of 30 kilometers, however, because of their rarity, it is rare for more than five missiles to be carried on ship (while most pre-war guided missile destroyers and frigates were designed to hold at least 10 such missiles, with some carrying more than 20). As such, they are only used against high value targets. In addition to their firepower, pre-war warships are often faster than converted container ships. With their speed and firepower, one pre-war warship, given sufficient ammunition, can devastate an entire fleet of converted pre-war civilian vessels. One recent development was the 2285 successful test launch of the first post-war anti-ship missile in North America, if not the world, the Cascadian "Hurricane" missile, a simple guided missile using a radio controlled television guidance system similar to the WWII-era German Fritz-X and Hs-129 missiles. The Hurricane missile is capable of being launched from a pre-war anti-ship missile launcher, or from a post-war designed launch tube for use on converted container ships. While it lacks the range of pre-war anti-ship missiles, it nonetheless successfully destroyed a target ship at a range of 10 kilometers in a test. While less heavily armed than than surface combatants, armed Coast Guard vessels are also highly prized as, while they lack missiles or torpedoes, they are still armed with heavy cannon in powered targets with a fire control system designed for engaging moving vessels, making their long range fire much more accurate. In combat, pre-war warships are often deployed apart from fleets, allowing them to take full advantage of their speed to deploy devastating firepower while keeping well out of range of return fire. Possession of a pre-war warship in their fleet when the other side does not, is typically enough to guarantee victory for the side that possesses it. While they are powerful, pre-war warships are far from invincible. In addition to similar vessels and similarly rare pre-war aircraft, the biggest threat to pre-war warships are mines and massive swarms of "ultra-light boats". In addition to surface combatants, smaller numbers of submarines survived the Great War. While practically all of them lack any remaining nuclear submarine-launched ballistic missiles, some may have small numbers of anti-ship missiles armed with conventional or "mini-nuke" warheads. Even if their torpedoes are the only remaining armaments, the rarity of effective anti-submarine weapons makes an operational submarine one of the most highly-prized ships a post-war country can possess, being able to stealthily devastate a fleet of converted civilian vessels or even engage pre-war surface combatants. Mine Warfare While torpedoes and missiles are rare due to limited pre-war stocks and the fact that few factions retain the capability to manufacture them, naval mines are easier to manufacture, and relatively commonplace. Post-war naval mines are typically improvised weapons with a contact fuse, with a casing constructed from objects such as marker buoys, oil drums, and crates. This improvised design, which resembles floating debris makes post-war naval mine particularly dangerous, as the crew of a ship might not recognize them until as a threat it is too late. Mines may be be anchored in place using a weight and chain, or sometimes be free-floating. In general, anchored mines are used by factions to control access to sea passages, while pirates may use free-floating mines, generally threatening to release the mines into a commonly used harbor or shipping channel unless a ransom is paid. Because of their disguised nature, it is common for post-war warships to fire on floating debris from a safe distance, with the intent to detonate the mine or perforate the ballast and cause it to sink below the draft of the ship. This can only be done, however if it is detected in time, which it may not be. For this reason, mines are feared by post-war sailors, both military and civilian, as multiple cases exist where a mine laid by a converted fishing trawler has sunk a high-prized pre-war warship. Naval Aviation By 2150, all purpose-built aircraft carriers were either destroyed the nuclear exchange of the Great War, or else were subsequently beached and deteriorated beyond seaworthiness. Likewise, aircraft in the post-war period are rare, and only owned by major factions. For this reason, most use of aircraft in conjunction with ships involved land-based aircraft operating alongside ships, was the case in the Cascadian Salish Sea Anti-Piracy Campaign. Nonetheless, the Great War did not completely end the use of naval aviation. Some large converted or pre-war ships have a pad for landing helicopters and VTOL aircraft on, and some factions make use of small numbers of floatplanes, though these can only be used on very calm seas. Some factions have converted bulk carriers and container ships into something more resembling a pre-war aircraft carrier. For instance, the NCR and postwar remnants of the Japanese government have operate VTOL and helicopter carriers. A typical example of a post-war helicopter carriers is the NCR Ursa Major, a converted bulk carrier, with the cargo hold modified into a hangar deck, as well as crews for additional crew not found on the cargo ship (such as aircrew, gunners, marines etc), and the cranes modified for used as a flight deck elevators. The vessel has two helicopter pads, one forward and once aft, and can carry six helicopters or VB-02 Vertibird VTOL aircraft. Cascadia made an even more radical conversion of a post-war vessel into an aircraft carrier. Initially, the CS Surrey was a more conventional VTOL carrier, a large converted roll on-roll off ship carrying 16 VTOLs and two floatplanes, however, after the discovery of an intact electromagnetic catapult on a beached aircraft carrier in Puget Sound, proposals surfaced to construct the first post-war aircraft carrier, citing the Surrey as an idea choice for because of its over 300 meter deck. The vessel was refitted with a flight deck and catapults, and the hangar deck was expanded from 2224 to 2231. Upon its conversion, the ship was renamed CS Fairweather after the highest mountain in the recently acquired territory seized in the Northern Frontier War. The Fairweather differs from a pre-war aircraft carrier as it does not have a through deck, the bridge runs across the entire stern like most container ships, however, this is not an issue as aircraft take off from the catapult at the bow, and use an angled flight deck that avoids the bridge to land. The Fairweather can carry 14 helicopters and six fixed-wing aircraft. Category:Vehicles Category:Technology